This proposal is an "Administrative Supplemental Budget Request" to the Fogarty International Center (FIC) to build in-country research and public health capacity in the only STD Residency Training Program (RTP) in Russia, the Department of Dermatology and Venereal Diseases at Pavlov State Academy of medicine (DDVD), St. Petersburg. The training and research program that we propose has the following objectives: (1) To identify three junior physicians either currently in or recently graduated from RTP of DDVD who will receive targeted clinical and research training in modern methods of diagnosing, treating and preventing sexually transmitted infections (STI) including HIV (six months in the STD Clinical Research Center (CRC) at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (UNC) and six months in the Program of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Yale University School of Public Health [SPH]); (2) To establish a critical mass of young Physician scientists who can modernize the diagnostic, treatment, prevention and clinical research agenda in the only STD RTP in Russia; (3) To provide these junior clinician scientists with Re-entry Grants for conducting clinical research in the broad area of STD's upon return to St. Petersburg. This proposal links four institutions, two American (SPH, UNC) and two Russian (DDVD and St. Petersburg State University, HIV Prevention Unit [SPSU]). Our selection of the only academic/clinical training program in STD's in Russia as a target for research and training capacity building is predicated on: (1) our desire to introduce modern methods of diagnostic, treatment and prevention methods of STD's in Russia; (2) our strong program in HIV prevention research which we have now established at SPSU; (3) a realization that only through a strong STD RTP can Russia begin to enter the new era of modern diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research on the multitude of viral, parasitic and bacterial STI pathogens now known to cause STD's. The three year program will initially conduct an open competition/recruitment (Phase I) in the 25 young physicians currently enrolled in the RTP of DDVD and in the 30 recent RTP graduates. This competition will identify a junior physician/clinical scientist who will spend one year (Phase II) in the United States of SPH and UNC. During their time at SPH and UNC each Fogarty STD Fellow will prepare a "Re-entry Grant" that will involve scientific research in greater St. Petersburg in the area of diagnosis, treatment and/or prevention of STD's. Following their 12 month stay in the United States, each Fogarty STD Fellow will return to St. Petersburg to begin research which will be supported by their Re-entry Grant (Phase III). A senior scientist (s) at DDVD and/or SPSU will mentor this research work with an appropriate senior scientist(s) from SPH and/or UNC.